Can’t tell the players without a program

Thank you for your letter and your highly perspicacious questions. You write:

“Harper has now decided that Canada must play an important role in the centuries-long Shia-Sunni war within Islam. Well okay, but I’m unclear which side we’re on. I think we’re now Shias, right?

“Fact is, Canadians need to know the answer here, because under the new laws, if we promote support for the wrong warring Islamic sect, we could be subject to life in prison.

“Perhaps you could explain exactly why the sect we support is terrific, and why the sect we oppose should die.”

I’ve been pondering this very question myself, Peter, and I think I can help. I’d also add that besides the reasonable fear of imprisonment and perhaps solitary confinement if you (or I) make an honest mistake, there’s another reason we need to know whose side we’re on. The Canadian mission to Iraq is being extended. Canada’s amusingly-called “non-risk”, “non-combat” mission is going to be there for the long term, perhaps 12 years as in Afghanistan, and with the same tragic results. The Conservatives in Parliament will ratify this blunder next month.

(A caution, Peter — it might be subversive to say “blunder”.)

Okay, on to your question: Islam, like all religions, is divided. As you observed, there are two main denominations, Sunni and Shia. There are far more Sunni in the world than Shia, but lots of the Shia are in the wrong places, like Iran. The Western world generally doesn’t like the Shia, often seen as more extreme, so you could say we are pro-Sunni. But both ISIS and al Qaida are Sunni, so we must be anti-Sunni. But Sunni ISIS kills other Sunnis by the tens of thousands (plus anyone else they can get their mitts on, especially Shia). As well, Saudi Arabia is Sunni and anti-ISIS, but so is despicable Iran, which is hugely Shia. This really complicates things. Sunni ISIS and Sunni al Qaida also loathe each other, and both of course hate (Shia) Iran, and (possibly) vice versa.

Are you with me so far, Peter? No worry. You can rest assured Stephen Harper and his ministers have all this down pat.

Oh yeah, you know who else was Sunni? The late evil Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein! Until the U.S. found it absolutely necessary to invade and kill him and totally screw up Iraq, Saddam, though evil, was actually considered a friend of the West. Iraq is majority Shia and Saddam, a good Sunni (well, a bad Sunni, I guess), kept the Shia in their place. In fact he waged a terrible eight-year war against the hated Khomeini Shia regime in Iran, in which the U.S. aided their Sunni buddy Saddam except when it also aided despised Shia Iran.

So now thanks to the United States, the Shia are back in control of Iraq, which led some pissed-off Sunni to form ISIS.

Iraq’s Shia militias are killing Iraqi Sunnis in huge numbers, which is making Iraq’s disempowered Sunnis look more favourably on ISIS even though ISIS kills lots of Sunni. Shia Iran strongly supports Shia Iraq, which makes Iran even more dangerous except that it’s really vital to our side in battling ISIS. Am I going too fast?

So really, Peter, you were kind of right that we are pro-Shia because Shia Iran and Shia Iraq are both fighting ISIS, which we hate most these days. But of course we’re anti-Shia because we also hate Shia Iran most because Iran “is the world’s most dangerous country”. (See the former J. Baird.)

Israel and its new BFF, Canada, also hate Iran and demand that Israel remain the only country in the Middle East to have nuclear weapons. But of course, Israel and Canada are also quietly thrilled that Iran is fighting ISIS.

Peter, did I mention that Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia are bitter enemies, as each are determined to be the Big Macher (an Arab term, I believe) in the Middle East? (Iranians aren’t Arabs, by the way; they’re Persians. And lots of Arabs are Christians. Just saying.)

But both countries loathe and fear ISIS, so we’re all on the same side, ISIS-wise.

And don’t forget our sometimes-allies the Kurds, who are majority Sunni but hate Sunni ISIS and also hate our NATO allies the Turks who are Sunni and also war against ISIS.

But Turkey hates the Kurds … well, that’s another story.

We mustn’t forget tormented Syria, of course, where the murderous president is actually part of a small sect within the Shia, ruling a largely Sunni country. We hate him badly and want to kill him. But now that he’s also fighting Sunni ISIS, we still hate him but hope he sticks around.

Now here’s the thing, Peter. We’re staying completely out of Syria even though ISIS is very powerful there. This completely bamboozles me. I haven’t a clue why we’re in Iraq but not Syria. Sorry I can’t help here.

Let’s now turn to Libya and the anarchy and violence that western countries left behind after we helped overthrew their former dictator, Gadhafi, whom we once shunned, then embraced, then killed. Now he was a Bedouin …

—

Dr. Gerry Caplan is a leading Canadian authority on genocide and genocide prevention. Dr. Caplan speaks around the world on why genocides happen and why those with the capacity to prevent them fail to do so. He has a Ph.D. in African history from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. He is a senior consultant for the UN Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa and has just completed a report for the Africa Union and UNICEF on The State of Africa’s Children. He is the volunteer chair of the International Advisory Board for the University of Toronto Centre for International Health’s HIV/AIDS Initiative for Africa.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.

16 comments on “Can’t tell the players without a program”

Reading this superb piece from Gerry Caplan leaves one very terrifying thought.
Can anyone think of ONE SINGLE Harper PUPPET who even remotely understands any of this nightmare?
Certainly Kenney does not come to mind.
Not one of them from Alexander, Nicholson, to Bezan…who really does not inspire confidence…no, it’s tragic
that we know that this gang has nothing but a rudimentary understanding of the Middle East.
It’s also shameful and deeply concerning that this country has been in the hands of such unsophisticated
trolls.
Thank heaven, in all seriousness, we have only 200 plus days to go before we rid this beautiful battered
country of this reckless naïve unenlightened horde of frauds.
We have been at the mercy of their foolish and very dangerous games.

Thank you. I now understand why our government usually makes no sense at all. It is because they are in a constant state of confusion and don’t know what the truth is anymore especially at home. Mr. Caplan you are great and when you are on Power and Politics you certainly embarrass the whole crew with your knowledge and their ignorance. You are right up there with Eric Margolis in my opinion.

Don’t get how this is so brilliant OR hilarious. This guy is making light of a serious situation. These people are never going to resolve their differences and so we need to be waaaaayyyy more aggressive in taking them down so we don’t all get blown up. Who cares what their religion is? If they’re coming at me with a bomb vest, i’m not going to ask them how they pray or whether or try to understand their grievances. It just doesn’t make sense.

“they hate us because of our freedom and democracy?” Seriously? Do you not have any idea that this phrase was originally written for a comic book, and subsequently taken up by the speechwriter of the single stupidest president the US has ever known?

Ok, I’ll pretend you believe it. You are not going to massacre and bomb your way out of the situation we’re in now. Of course we have to defend ourselves and do good police work. But man, learn from history. “Way more aggressive”? These current guys were generated by us and others trying to massacre and bomb our way out the situation we were in with the *previous* most evil guys. And we’re just providing the best recruiting backdrop they could hope for by being even more aggressive and barbarous than they are.

I can’t believe what I’m reading here. Worse yet, Harper said in question period last week that our brave men and women were fighting the terrorists there so we don’t have to fight them here. That’s a direct quote from last week. Holy Christ.

What do you mean by them? ALL of them? Because very few of these guys are coming at you with a bomb vest at this point (i.e. none. Zero intl. terrorist attacks from the middle east. All home cooked, so far). In exchange, the USA, Canada, and a few like-minded countries have decided it’s a good idea to bomb some guys sometime, while arming the other guys… then bomb the other guys. Then arm some other guys because the second guys were getting too uppity. And then a few others, for good measure. Then decide it’s all screwed up and troops on the ground are needed.

To elaborate – Hussein was a best buddy. He received the keys of the city of Detroit. Most of the “WMD’s” the US claimed Irak was making were legacy chemical weapons… sold by the US and used against the kurds and Iran. And while it’s still debated whether the US delivered aid and weapons to Bin Laden’s men when they were fighting the USSR, they definitely aided other Afghan mujahideen.

Ah well. Bomb it all up into a sea of glass, right? Only way to be sure.

You just finished saying that “these people are never going to resolve their differences.” So take them down? If they’ll “never” resolve their differences and that fact somehow implies that North America will get blowed up real good, then what do you suggest? A number of hydrogen bombs? Remember, you have to kill every living human being in the region because they’ll “never resolve their differences” and that means “we all get blown up.” Right?

How about just letting them fight amongst themselves? You never know. One day they may actually resolve things. In the meantime we take the appropriate police intelligence precautions domestically to break up any nefarious plans. How about that?

This is a perfect caption for the stupidity of war and the terrifying reality that the so called leaders waging it are completely incompetent, ignorant of their battleground and desperate in their failures.

Gerry, I always look forward to your blogs on iPolitics and the G&M. I share your views on most subjects, including the folly of the Harperites’ blind support of the Netanyahu government. If you send your mailing address to me ([email protected]), I’ll send you a copy of my jazz vocal CD (Reflections of a Jazz Fanatic). One of my originals is Middle East Blues.